Tuesday, January 26, 2016

WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Helping The Homeless Is Not As Simple As Some People Believe

On a cold November night in Times Square, several years ago,
a New York City police officer encountered an older, barefooted. homeless man
The officer disappeared for a little while, then returned with a new pair
of all-weather boots, and knelt to help the man put on the boots.

Soon after, this self-initiated act of kindness was reported
by the New York Times and on a number of TV news programs, as well as on
Facebook. But the incident might have gone unnoticed and been forgotten
had it not been for a tourist from Arizona. Her snapshot, taken with her
cell phone and posted on Facebook made that police officer an overnight hero,
claimed the New York Times.

The police officer had paid $75 of his own money for the
boots. They were all-weather boots and should have fully warmed the feet
of the homeless man.

The police officer never got the homeless man's name, and
days later the homeless man could not be located. "He was the most
polite man I had ever met," the Times quoted the police officer as saying,
adding that the man's face lit up at the sight of the boots. The police
officer said he offered him a cup of coffee, but as soon as the boots were on
him. the homeless man went on his way and the police officer went back to his
post. That might have been the end of a wonderfully modern "Good
Samaritan" story ---- but, was it?

A week later, the Times did a follow-up story. Two
Times reporters had been sent out to find this homeless man and learn more
about him. They found him on the Upper West Side ---- but with no boots!

Clearly, this was unexpected. Apparently, the homeless
man's situation had not been resolved simply with the gift of a new pair of
boots.

The reporters asked about the absent winter boots.
"Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money,"
replied the homeless man, "I could lose my life! Don't get me wrong,
I appreciate what the officer did. I wish there were more people like
that in the world."

Whatever the man's concerns about sporting a new pair of
winter boots and thus possibly becoming the object of a street crime, the
reporters concluded that walking barefoot in winter was the lesser of two evils
in the view of this homeless man. And they said he did seem accustomed to
walking the pavement shoeless.

There are some folks who would believe that this homeless
man's fortunes had been sufficiently improved simply by the gift of those new
boots. After providing protection for his cold, blistered feet, that society
could simply move on, perhaps happy to pat itself on the back for a job well
done. However, the heartwarming act of kindness ---- a man opening his
wallet to buy another man a pair of shoes, was not enough to keep the
recipient from going barefoot.

This story, however, is even more complicated. This
homeless man had a NYC apartment but, for some reason, regularly returned to
the streets. Despite veterans benefits, Federal Section 8 assistance and
Social Security, he would sit on the cold New York City pavement and, barefoot,
walk its streets.

But, can we just say "It's his choice"?

What matters is that this homeless man, like thousands of
others on the street, are in a country that is the richest nation in the
world. What matters is that an act of kindness ---- a man opening his
wallet to buy another man shoes, was not enough to keep him from going
barefoot. Sometimes we assume the homeless operate with our values and
rationality ----- they simply have had some bad breaks. True, some
homeless folks could try harder to solve their own problems. But, there
are always some who live in their own little world ---- do we just write them
off?

The story of the policeman and the homeless man quickly
faded, and we moved on to the next social-media sensation. But the story
continued for this homeless man, who perhaps should have garnered more
lasting attention from the very beginning.

Do you think some social problems are too big for
individuals to tackle alone? Perhaps some problems, such as homelessness do
require complex solutions.

The gift of shoes helps. Cash helps. But the
more effective act of generosity, perhaps the real miracle, would have been if
the millions of people who heard this story of the generous police officer
trying to help a man in need, would push for better mental health services,
more affordable housing, more job training ---- push for enough attention from the
various levels of government for those people (like our homeless man) who need
it most. Random acts of kindness do some good, but often they are just
not a sufficient solution.